A five-time Grammy Award winner, Robert Cray is credited with carrying America’s blues tradition into the 21^st century.  Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011, Cray has based a successful career spanning 35 years upon his soulful voice, creative guitar work and songs bridging the gaps between blues, rock, soul, gospel and jazz.

True blues fans will enjoy the VIP Package complete with a gourmet meal prepared by the Festival’s premier culinary partner, the Wyndham Gettysburg, in partnership with the Festival’s culinary artistic director, former White House Chef Walter Scheib.  A lavish menu features such elegant dishes as smoked salmon on grilled flatbread, topped with crème fraiche and caviar, for starters.  Ahi tuna tartar paired with a unique avocado-mango relish, lobster mac & cheese paired with green tomato chutney, and many other flavorful dishes await.  Served on the Gettysburg College dining services patio, guests are welcome to remain in this prime seating location for the concert or enjoy a premium VIP seat right by the stage. 

"Blues is one of the foundations of our music, but it's not all that we play," Cray says.  "When I first started playing guitar, I wanted to be George Harrison - that is, until I heard Jimi Hendrix.  After that, I wanted to be Albert Collins and Buddy Guy and B.B. King.  And then there are singers like O.V. Wright and Bobby Blue Bland.  It's all mixed up in there." 

He continues, "Every time somebody asks me about what my music comes from, I give them five or six different directions - a little rock, soul, jazz, blues, a little gospel feel.  Then there are some other things that maybe fall in there every once in a while, like a little Caribbean flavor or somthing.  You just never know.  I always attribute it to the music we grew up listening to, and the radio back in the '60s.  It's pretty wide open.  It's hard to put a tag on it."

The band's current album, This Time--the first studio album on Cray's own imprint Nozzle Records, distributed by Vanguard Records--arrives at a vital juncture in the musician's career, marked by creative renewal and a key reunion with an old performing partner. 

Live from Across the Pond (2006), Robert Cray's debut Nozzle release, is an electrifying two-CD concert set is drawn from a series of shows (opening for Eric Clapton) at London's Royal Albert Hall .  When the time came to follow up that widely praised collection with a studio recording, Cray viewed it as an opportunity to move his sound in other directions.  He found exactly what he was looking for by turning to one of his oldest friends and colleagues:  bassist Richard Cousins, whose tenure with the Robert Cray Band began with its barnstorming regional origins in Eugene, Oregon in 1974 and extended through 1991, encompassing such early high-water marks as Strong Persuader (1986) and Don't be Afraid of the Dark (1988), both winners of the best contemporary blues performance Grammy. 

Cousins' return to the Cray fold bonds him once again with keyboardist Jim Pugh, a cornerstone of the guitarist's group since 1989.  In the hunt for a new drummer, Cray-with encouragement from Cousins-struck on a musician whose style and experience perfectly complemented his own:  the road-tested Tony Braunagel, whose resume includes work with Bonnie Raitt (including her Grammy-winning Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw), Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', and B.B. King.

Tickets:  $25/$35/$48/$60 - FOR SEATING PLAN SEE IMAGE BELOW

VIP Experience Sponsored by OPEN MINDS $150 per person/$250 per couple

Please note the gates open at 6 pm to all guests.  Food vendors will be on site.

Please also note the culinary portion of the VIP Experience is available from 6:30-8 pm.

All events, prices, personalities, venues, dates and times subject to change without notice.